A chilled Filly

Tuesday 3 January 2017

Great ride today

For all those who have followed my story with Filly, the ups and the depths of down I'm pleased to report that finally (touch wood) it all seems to be coming good at last.
Her left canter has always been a cause for concern and this is what lead to the original navicular diagnosis. But recently she has been getting better and better.

Today we went to the school and just played around slowly getting her used to the spurs as a signal which is going really well. To start with, a couple of rides ago, she hated them and kept trying to bite my boot. But I patiently just rubbed her with them. They are a western spur with a very short rowl. Nothing sharp, a bit like a massage roller. So I just sat and rubbed her up and down until she went "actually that's quite nice really". Then there was the spot where she said "they are nice but you are not using those things to tell me what to do !!". Then there was acceptance that actually they made my leg signals far less confusing and we can work together with them.
The result has been a very much more active Filly who can now see merit in not pushing on my leg but acting as a partner and following my feel.

Once the other two riders left the school we moved up into trot and then canter on the right lead. And what a canter. Fast and relaxed with lovely flowing corners. And so smooth :) :) . Not collected or even flexed as yet, I'm still working on rhythm and relaxation at canter but that will come in time.

Switched to left canter. Not as smooth as right but about as good as right was not long ago. Again very fast and with a sense she was trying to relax but couldn't quite find it.

All in all a great ride which has left me smiling from ear to ear.

Monday 2 January 2017

Lesson with Becca

Things have been going really well with Filly and I. The sarcoid has now fallen off with just a little tug from the vet to get the last bit off. This seems to have freed up her movement a fair bit and even left canter lead seems smoother as a result. This is something we've been striving for for a while now.

Becca came over and gave us a lesson a few days ago. It all went very well. We played with neutral lateral flexion whilst walking forwards. This just means getting the neck to flex laterally whilst traveling in a straight line. Sound simple but as usual simple things aren't easy. We got there in the end. Then we played with vertical flexion of the head and neck. This was pretty good but it took a while for Filly to get the idea that a quick head nod was not enough. She had to keep it there. A light squeeze with the legs helped with that.

We did a little canter on both leads just to see how she was going. It all seemed so much smoother than in the past. So it is definitely going in the right direction.

There is an interesting difference between our two horses. With Bonitao he can get worried when learning something new and needs lots of reassurance. Filly gets angry and fights anything new but "correction" does not work. You just have to be patient and persistent until she eventually sees the merit in what you are teaching and the resistance melts away. This can be told by the activity of the tail :(

The new Facebook group is going well. Those interested in joining should let me know and I'll sign you up. It's the UK Bridle Horse group for the discussion of the training of horses in the Bridle Horse tradition.